Rwanda disqualified from AFCON qualifiers

The Confederation of African Football Associations (CAF) on Sunday disqualified Rwanda from the qualifiers of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.

CAF’s Organising Committee of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations made the decision following a protest made by the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) during the first leg match of the second round of qualifying played against Rwanda on 20 July 2014 in Pointe-Noire.

“Yes we received communication from CAF about the disqualification,” Vincent Nzamwita, the Rwanda FA President confirmed to AfricanFootball.com in Kigali.

The protest by Congo contested the eligibility of the player Birori Dady aligned with Rwanda, and plays for the AS Vita Club of Kinshasa with Congolese (DRC) passport as Etekiama Agiti Tady, and a different age.

CAF said following investigations on the basis of documents provided by the federations of Rwanda, Congo and DR Congo, and hearing the player’s testimony on August 11, 2014 at CAF headquarters in Cairo, CAF established that the two identities only referred to a single person.

While the Rwandan Football Federation (FERWAFA) maintained that to their knowledge the player Dady Birori had one identity, investigations revealed that he was summoned as Etekiama Agiti Tady by FERWAFA to join the national team of Rwanda.

CAF also also confirmed that they have immediately suspended the player Etekiama Agiti Tady / Birori Dady until further notice and ban him from playing for club and the national team.

“Rwanda declared losers of No.37 against Congo, and consequently being eliminated from the competition. Consign Congo to the group phase of the qualifiers of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations – Morocco in 2015 in Group A, as replacement for Rwanda,” said the CAF communication.

Congo now qualify for Group A of the qualifiers Nigeria, Sudan and South Africa. But the Rwanda FA boss has not disclosed their next action.